


Marry Me

by rangersandlegends



Category: The Flash (TV 2014)
Genre: F/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-03-17
Updated: 2018-03-17
Packaged: 2019-04-03 18:20:34
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,369
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/14001861
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/rangersandlegends/pseuds/rangersandlegends
Summary: Iris Ann West has always wanted to get married.





	Marry Me

**Author's Note:**

> Based on "Marry Me", by Thomas Rhett.

Iris Ann West has always wanted to get married.

 

As her lifelong best friend, Barry knew this. When they were kids, he spent countless hours at her house, discussing who would perform the ceremony (her mother’s father, a minister), which flowers were the prettiest (magnolias), and where they would have the wedding (out in the country). There were imaginary guest lists of friends and family who just had to be there, and which songs would play at the reception (a lot of N’Sync). Barry didn’t mind helping Iris plan all this out. He didn’t mind doing much of anything with Iris. She was perfect.

 

All of this decision-making led up to the event itself. Iris insisted that Barry play groom at her pretend wedding. Her mom filmed the whole thing, claiming that one day they would want to watch this. Iris didn’t mind having an official photographer. She had her father walk her down the aisle, and all her favorite stuffed animals were witnesses. The ceremony itself was brief, but Barry would never forget it. 

 

But things change. People change with their circumstances. For Iris, it was simply a matter of discarding all of her wedding plans the week her mother died. Maybe happily ever afters weren’t meant for the West family. Her wedding dress was thrown to the back of the closet, where she couldn’t ever see it again.

 

It broke Barry’s heart to see his best friend like this. But when she asked to play cops and robbers instead of walking down the aisle, he obliged. And when she said she was going to be the bravest officer in the CCPD, he told her she would. She’d be the best officer on the force. He built up a broken girl until it was her turn to do the same for him.

 

No one else believed Barry. But Iris knew. His father didn’t kill his mother. Whoever, whatever, it was, it wasn’t Henry Allen. It didn’t matter that she barely knew Mr. Allen; she knew Barry. Barry wasn’t a liar, Barry was the best person she knew. The one who had made things okay when nothing was alright. Her best friend for life. And now the boy in the room next door.

 

Barry found himself becoming part of the West family. Joe treated him like a son; Grandma Ester got him Christmas presents. And Iris, well, Iris treated him the same as she always did. Like he was the smartest, funniest person ever. Barry knew it was a lie, though. Iris was the best person he knew. And even though he never mentioned it to Iris anymore, he knew one day she would have the perfect wedding.

 

All of this is why Barry shouldn’t have been surprised to find himself here, in the back of the church. He was in his best black suit and tie. He wouldn’t say he was hiding back here, necessarily. He had just never felt this combination of emotions in his life. Would it be acceptable to throw up on a day like today? Probably not. He glanced around to see if anyone was looking, but no one was. He reached into his breast pocket and pulled out the flask of whiskey Cisco had given him. He took a large gulp. Considering how sparingly he drank, he knew it would hit his system hard. In fact, he told himself the shot was why his eyes were tearing up. Not the event itself. He wiped the traitorous liquid away quickly, before anyone saw. He needed to man up. This was the rest of this life. He needed to get used to it.

 

This wedding had been a long time coming. Barry had spent countless hours reassuring Iris that she could have her happy ending. She was not her mother. Her husband would not kick her out of the house and tell her children she was dead. Joe credited Barry for this wedding even happening at all. Barry knew that was overstating things. Iris always found a way to get what she wanted.

 

And now she was about to be married to the man of her dreams. It just wasn’t Barry.

 

Barry thought back to a million little memories of Iris and him. Movie nights, consoling her after break-ups, going shopping for prom Had he been so far off in thinking those moments had been leading up to something? That she had felt even a fraction of what he did? How could he have made it all up in his head?

 

Especially that day at Jitters. He always sort of thought of it as their place. Of course, he felt that way about Joe’s house, and the mall, and any place he had ever been with her, but Jitters was the most special. He had gotten her an extra heavy cronut, to celebrate getting her first story published. Telling her his favorite parts of the piece (besides just the whole thing), and lauding her research skills, he couldn’t help but notice the look on her face. It was...different. Iris always saw him, but now it was like she was seeing right through to the deepest part of him. He let his sentence trail off, no longer concerned with the sourcing of the article, fascinated by the look in her eyes. Was he crazy, or was she leaning in? Barry leaned in, and-

 

A crash sounded. Iris pulled up to go attend to the waitress who had dropped her tray, an old friend of hers, and the moment was over. What had just happened? Barry was freaking out. Did Iris almost kiss him? They’d been friends for forever. Could she possibly see him that way now?

 

Barry would never know. He held out hope for them. Right until he got the invite. He knew it was too late. He wouldn’t be the one to break up the engagement, or, God forbid, the wedding. So Iris could never know.

 

He was brought back to the present by the source of a door opening and a chorus of gasps. Iris had emerged from the bride’s room, resplendent in white. Barry’s heart stopped. She had never looked more perfect. She said hello to the various Wests assembled around her. In less than five minutes, she would be saying her vows. Declaring her undying love for another man.

 

He averted his eyes so as not to think about that. He saw Joe pacing in the back corner. Joe, who had supported Barry and Iris through trials that no kids should ever have to face. Joe, who had taken Barry in and made him one of his own. Did Joe know that he wasn’t the only one who would have to give Iris away?

 

This was Barry’s last chance. He could make his way through the crowd to find her. He could get everything off his chest. Confess his hopes and failures to the angel in his sight. Tell her he had loved her since had set eyes on her, that he knew her, understood her, and wanted to be everything for her until the day he died.

 

But Barry couldn’t be that person. He loved her so much, too much. Her happiness was everything, because she was everything. He couldn’t do this. Any of it. While everyone’s attention was focused on Iris, he snuck out the back.

 

He didn’t know where he was going, but his feet apparently did. They took him straight to Jitters. He grabbed a coffee, and found their table from pure muscle memory. He took a sip from his cup, and recoiled from the sheer weakness of it. He took out his flask, and tipped it heavy-handedly into the black liquid. He tried a sip and sighed. That was the stuff.

 

He let his mind drift, taking him nowhere in particular. His lack of concentration broke when he heard the murmurs. He looked up and saw...her. Tears in her eyes, confusion maring her features. He had never seen her look so lost and confused. He wanted to go to her, to wipe her tears away, to reassure her that everything would be alright. But he couldn’t, not until she said that one word:

 

“Barry?”


End file.
